>>953650You don't feel the wax at all once wiped down. Yet the pores are filled with it, thus making it water resistant.
When you cook the handle in wax the water in the wood evaporates, so you see tiny bubbles escape.
Once the bubbling stops you let it cool down slowly, the liquid wax will enter the wood as it cools down. Before it is hardening you take out the handle, wipe it down and reassemble.
Wax doesn't get as hot as oil, enough to make all the water evaporate (maybe 120°C), but not enough to brown the wood.
